Thursday, September 1, 2011

I find it funny when someone like tirumavalavan, nedumaran, "doctor" ramadoss and karunanidhi suddenly start espousing the cause of abolition of death sentence on grounds of civility. It would have been particularly amusing to imagine Mr. Tirumalvalavan and Mr. Ramadoss, men who are civilised enough to cut trees to block traffic when someone of their ilk is arrested, to shout vehemently at top of their voices that we are not medieval civilisation to promote state martyrdom. That Hindu devoted two full op-ed pages to decry abolition of death sentence made me wonder what all the fuss is about. What is the point in abolishing death sentence when it is already administered only in rarest of rare cases.

If plotting and executing the murder of a senior political leader who was the country's PM till two years ago, does not qualify for capital punishment, then I wonder whether we as a nation have lost the spine and is willing to accept any scathe inflicted on us without murmur in the name of civility. Damn that Civility!!! We dither for years whether or not to execute people who literally waged war on the country and when the system finally gets around to execute the punishment, we see such a hue and cry that we are a civilised country and we ought not to act barbaric by killing a fellow man. Spare a thought for the hundreds of policemen and civilians who lost their lives and limbs when the dastardly cowards struck terror.

When we hesitate to kill even such barbaric cowards, what is the signal we are sending out to the world. We are such gracious hosts. Guys and gals from around the world, our country welcomes you with all your arms and ammunition; have fun with our lives and kill however and whoever; we won't touch even a hair of you; we would arrest you, feed you well till end of your life with the taxes of very people who you have killed. God damn these hypocrites. If sparing these b****rds qualifies me for civilisation, I am honoured to be called 'Barbarian'.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Is this the moment India is looking for to take that giant leap.? Is this the much needed wake-up call that Indians needed to shrug off their indifference to omniscient corruption.? Will India become an utopia where milk and honey flow like a river?

Atleast I waited for this moment for nearly a decade.. Everytime the moment would seem to arrive only to vanish like a mirage once I get close.. I am tired of this hide and seek... No its not that Hazare moment as most of you might be thinking... Its more personal.. Finally I have exercised my franchise today nearly a decade after turning 18. Now I feel like I have become a Complete Raymonds man.

Your name would be in the voters list but you would not have Identity card to vouch that you are that "Sampath Kumar" as in the rolls. Then you get voter identity card but you find your name missing from the list rendering you ineligible to vote. The answer I got on presenting the id card is this

"I accept that you are an eligible voter. However, since your name is not in the list which we have, you cannot vote here". Perhaps the voter identity card is meant to vote in the Moon, I suppose or rather you have to move to a different country to vote. The denial is all the more painful because your younger brother who got his voter id card much later has already exercised your franchise making you an object of mockery and sarcasm.

Then in the next elections, you find your name in the electoral rolls of your neighbourhood and you have not lost your voter id card in the interim. Now when it seems as if nothing is going to stop you from exercising your fundamental democratic power, destiny cruelly intervenes, albeit sugar coatedly, asking you to join Reserve Bank of India at an obscure place called Patna somewhere in eastern India. What is more, it is a transferable job where you wuld get transferred every 3 - 5 years. Will I have to end my existence in this world without even once exercising the all important function of every Indian. I shudder to live that way.. No God it can't be.. I cannot lead a meaningless life in this world, or so I thought. I had lost all hope and became resigned to a futile life of an undemocratic Indian. Undemocratic India - an oxymoron, isn't it?

And suddenly it happened today, just like that. There were earlier times where we used to have furious debates as to which party and whom to vote? This time, I didn't even know which constituency I am supposed to be in, leave alone the parties and contesting candidates. But now I have exercised my power of selection or rather rejection and have got that indelible mark in my left index finger which I can proudly put as DP in Facebook. :). I have achieved my purpose in life..

And the immortal words of Kipling echoed in my ears:

"And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!".. I have become a Man.